Drama queen? Moi?

Posted by Isabel Dexter at 11:55 on 2 Jul 2009

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In an attempt to be 'plus tranquille' I'm trying to replace the Showcase with yoga and massages. My astrologer/life coach thinks I should just buy some pot plants.But I'd only end up using them as ashtrays, right? Smoking, like scowling, is something I only do in Paris. Part of the education, surely.

So when Darphin invited me to trial their signature facial I figured it would help me align with my planets, appease my Saturn Returns and all that jazz without the need for a divine herbaceous interference. Plus, franchement (frankly) all the drama is not good for my skin. As Miss Golightly rightly admits in Breakfast at Tiffany's, "There's a certain shade of limelight that can wreck a girl's complexion." I'm with you there, Holls. And while we're at it mail me a list of the fifty richest men in Paris. The fifty RICHEST, because I think I need to have a Darphin facial every week now please.

Darphin's Institut, which is on the rue Saint-Honoré, is typically gorgeous. I adored my therapist who kept telling me to "be more calm and breathe some more" but in the most soothing French accent. "When you can breathe and your body is feeling glowing you will be glowing as well." Usually absinthe has this effect on me but the famous Darphin aromatic oils, warming masque, exfoliation and firming massage made me feel like I'd slept for a hundred years and woken up with 12 year old girl skin. C'était comme un reve!

The company was founded by Pierre Darphin in 1958 with an emphasis on using aromatic oils, anti-ageing massage techniques and looking at the skin from a holistic point of view. It's also based on the premise that pleasure is good for beauty, as opposed to so-called results-orientated facials that can too often feel like your skin is being poked and prodded as if to punish you for all the Marlboro Lights/whisky and cokes/times you accidentally used body lotion to remove your makeup. Over fifty years old and still not showing it's age? Like I said, stuff of dreams. Je suis fan de Darphin.

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